Thiel: After 0-3 Start, Sounders Need To 'Grow Up' And Get Energized

Sounders forward Clint Dempsey tries to silence opposing supporters after he scored a goal against Guadalajara during the second half of a CONCACAF Champions League soccer match, March 7, 2018, in Seattle. The Sounders won 1-0.

Ted S. Warren
/ AP Photo

Listen

Listening...

/

4:14

After back-to-back appearances in the Major League Soccer championship match, the Seattle Sounders are 0-3 this season. They have yet to score a goal but have garnered some high-profile penalties.

Thiel said there's no excuse for how some of the Sounders have been acting.

"This is a mature team. This is a team that's been to two Major League Soccer Cups. They're the two-time defending Western Conference champions. Lots of veteran leadership. And they're acting like adolescent boys."

"I speak specifically of red card violations that occurred in each of the last two games that cost the team players. During the game they're thrown out and they have to sit out the next game."

"The worst episode, I think, occurred a couple of weeks ago against Dallas when Clint Dempsey, during a dead ball situation, was just standing there. His defender came up behind him and Dempsey reached back and hit him in the nether regions. And was red carded and thrown out."

"It was clearly just an impulse behavior that had no place for a 34-year-old guy. Dempsey's got a reputation of being a street fighter and getting away with stuff. But this was just so uncalled for."

"And then the next game, the more recent one against Montreal, a guy who has no reputation for physically abusing opponents, Kelvin Leerdam, got into a tussle with his opponent (Daniel Lovitz)."

"They went for a header and Leerdam tumbled into him a little bit. Then Leerdam reached a hand out to fend him off, but it turned into a slap. In soccer, you cannot put your hands on the opponents' face. Leerdam at least apologized."

"He said, 'It was a foolish thing. I shouldn't have done it.' And seemed very contrite. We haven't heard from Dempsey about that sort of thing. But it really did damage not only the players' reputations but the team's chances."

Why Aren't They Scoring?

"The absence of Jordan Morris is a big deal," Thiel explained about why the team hasn't scored.

"He hurt his knee and is out for the year after surgery. He was such a vital part of the Sounders' attack that his absence is large and they have yet to fill that void."

"Clint Dempsey is showing his age at 34. He's not nearly as effective a scorer as he was."

"But there's also a lack of energy that I've seen. Maybe there's a hangover from two times in the MLS Cup. That's two seasons that go longer than any other team but one. I can understand a bit of a fatigue factor."

"They have had slow starts before. This is not a situation that is not recoverable. They can get back to it. They don't play until April 15. Maybe the time off is going to be a lecture series with videos on how to behave and how to score."

Related Content

The defending champion Seattle Sounders play Toronto FC in Canada tomorrow afternoon in the MLS Cup championship game. It’s a rematch of last year’s title game, where the Sounders won their first-ever MLS Cup.

KNKX sports commentator Art Thiel explains why it would be such a big deal if the Sounders become champions once again.

The Seattle Sounders play their final game of the regular season this weekend. The defending MLS Cup champions host the Colorado Rapids Sunday afternoon at CenturyLink Field, after already securing a playoff berth.

KNKX sports commentator Art Thiel says the Sounders have made it to the postseason each of the nine years they’ve been in Major League Soccer.

Sounders fans will have another chance to celebrate the team’s MLS Cup title on Sunday. There will be a special ceremony before the start of the home opener against the New York Red Bulls at CenturyLink Field.

The team is off to a slow start this season and KNKX sports commentator Art Thiel says that needs to change soon.